Many people suffer from diminished touch sensation in their hands and fingers. This condition can result from a variety of causes, including thick calluses and peripheral neuropathy caused by damage to peripheral nerves. Peripheral neuropathy can result from many factors, including normal ageing, compression of nerves in the neck or carpal tunnel, diseases such as diabetes mellitus, and occupational exposure to neurotoxins, among others.
Reduced sensitivity to touch can make it difficult for a person to safely and accurately operate a firearm because of a lack of sensitivity to the forward actuation surface of the firearm's trigger. An inability to properly sense the trigger's location and pressure can result in unintentional or unexpected discharge of a firearm. Furthermore, people with normal sensation in their fingers can still have difficulty sensing the trigger's location and pressure, particularly if they are inexperienced at shooting a firearm.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved firearm trigger with a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions to maximize the sensory receptor/nerve stimulation on the palmar aspect of the finger being used to pull the firearm trigger. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the firearm trigger according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of maximizing the sensory receptor/nerve stimulation on the palmar aspect of the finger being used to pull the firearm trigger. The protrusions of the current invention to be described (≤2 mm) will initially cause stimulation of a more superficial layer of skin receptors (Meissner's corpuscles). Larger protrusions (>2 mm) will also stimulate a deeper layer of different skin receptors (Pacinian corpuscles), maximizing the sensory feedback from the fingertip. Differently sized protrusions will be appropriate for varying degrees of sensory neuropathy. It should also be appreciated that the protrusions of the current invention are deliberately larger than those for braille/California braille. Braille is for use by people with normal or supernormal fingertip sensation, whereas the current invention can be used by people with impaired, normal, or supernormal fingertip sensation. Also, although grip may be improved by the protrusions of the current invention, that is not a primary purpose of these protrusions.